BATON ROUGE – With the Colombian Women's National Team preparing for the 2014 South American Women's Football Championship later this fall, LSU Soccer goalkeeper Catalina Rubiano has been invited to train with Colombia's senior squad for the first time in her career in a national team training camp beginning July 20 in the capital city of Bogota.

Rubiano will train for two weeks with the Colombian Women's National Team as it looks to nail down its squad that will compete at this year's South American Women's Football Championship.

“Playing at LSU has been such a rewarding experience already for me,” said Rubiano, whose father, Andres, is of Colombian descent. “Now with this opportunity, I'm truly honored to have the chance to represent one of my countries at an international level. I'm grateful to have received the coaching that I get here at LSU, because it's thanks to them that I've been able to reach this point.”

Commonly referred as the “Copa America,” the 2014 South American Women's Football Championship will be held from Sept. 11-28 in the host nation of Ecuador. Along with Colombia and Ecuador, the tournament will also feature the likes of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela in a competition that will also serve as a qualifier for the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup.

The top two teams at this year's Copa America will earn automatic qualification into the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup that will be held in Canada next year. The third-place team at this year's Copa America will earn an opportunity to face the fourth-place team from the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association (CONCACAF) Football qualification in a playoff for another Women's World Cup spot.

In addition, the champion of the 2014 Copa America being held this fall will also qualify for the women's field at the 2016 Olympic Games that will be held in two years in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Colombia has certainly been at the center of the footballing world in recent weeks with the participation of its men's national team in the 2014 FIFA World Cup that is also currently being held in Brazil. Led by one of the World Cup's brightest stars in James Rodriguez, Colombia saw its World Cup run end with a 2-1 defeat to hosts Brazil on July 4 for its deepest run in the tournament in the nation's history.